Tuesday, November 20, 2012

Author and attorney Scott A. Lerner resides in Champaign, Illinois. He obtained his undergraduate degree in psychology from the University of Wisconsin in Madison and went on to obtain his Juris Doctor degree from the University of Illinois in Urbana Champaign. He is currently a sole practitioner in Champaign, Illinois. The majority of his law practice focuses on the fields of Criminal law and Family Law.

Mr. Lerner lives with his wife, their two children, and their cat Fern. Lerner collects unusual antiques and enjoys gardening, traveling, reading fiction and going to the movies. Cocaine Zombies is his first published novel. Coming soon, the sequel: Ruler of Demons.

1. How did you get into writing?

I sit at my computer a lot for work. One day I thought it would be nice to write something that was not incredibly dull. That was the beginning.

2. What do you like best (or least) about writing?

It is nice to take my mind off my workaday existence and think about the fantastic and unusual. I become someone else—someone more exciting and less limited.

3. What is your writing process? IE do you outline? Do you stick to a daily word or page count, write 7 days a week, etc.

I have not developed a process yet. Someday, if I am incredibly lucky and able to quit my day job, maybe I will be able to keep a more consistent schedule. For now I write when I have time. If it feels as if I’m running dry, I wait until later and hope inspiration comes to me.

4. Who are some other writers you read and admire, regardless of whether they are commercially “successful?”

Kurt Vonnegut and Stephen King, whose books are dark but have a lighter side. I also like what I have read so far of Mark Everett Stone and Molly MacRae, who were both kind enough to write blurbs for my book.

5. Should the question mark in the above question be inside or outside the quotes?

I would have put it outside the quotes. Yet I was cursed with a cute girl in front of me during my grammar school English class. The result was not paying as much attention to the rules of punctuation. Actually, isn’t it okay “either way?” If the object of grammar is to make something readable … I get the meaning either way.

6. What’s your stance on the Oxford Comma?

I refuse to stand on any punctuation. Just kidding, I’m against it. After Googling to see what it is and discovering I don’t use it I will come out publically and denounce it. It is un-American. Leave it to the British to add an extra comma.

7. What is Cocaine Zombies about and how did it come to fruition?

It is about a small town lawyer who takes on a simple case related to the sale of cocaine. It soon becomes apparent that the case is a lot more complicated—involving a conspiracy to create and distribute a new form of synthetic cocaine … also Voodoo, black magic and a malevolent spirit. The main character, along with his good friend, must put their lives on the line to save humanity.

8. What’s your current writing project?

Cocaine Zombies has a sequel in the works called Ruler of Demons. The initial draft is complete and is sure to appeal to fans of Cocaine Zombies. I am also working on an unrelated coming-of-age book. I think people will find it both interesting and incredibly twisted.

9. What book are you currently reading?

Damned by Chuck Palahniuk.

10. Who or what inspires your writing?

Is it too simplistic to say my imagination and observation? In life there is no shortage of odd and crazy things to be inspired by. For this story, history also fed my imagination. The antagonist wants to convince the hero that people are essentially evil. In human history there are many events to support her position; I had a lot of material to pick and choose from.

Finally, is there anything you’d care to add? Please also include where people can read your published stories, buy your book, etc.

Cocaine Zombies is my first novel. You can order it on Amazon, BN.com or wherever books are sold online and you can also request it at your local bookstore. It is also available in multiple eBook formats as well as the 5x8 trade paperback. You can also check out my blog for my random thoughts and like my author page on Facebook.

What I'm Reading Now

Books I've Read Recently

I had this book for many years before picking it up again a couple months ago and finally reading it. It's quite a theological treatise. Much of King's work deals with Good vs. Evil (cf THE STAND for perhaps one of the finest examples). The...

I tried to read this book at least twice after I bought it at Borders. I was there with my writer/poet friend Harvey (H.E. Noble; he has some wild and woolly books he's written, boy!). We were browsing the shelves and came across the Chuck ...

This is another epic work. I was looking forward to reading it before it was released and recall seeing the book trailer and being intrigued, as well as wondering about THE SIMPSON'S MOVIE, and who was ripping off whom, or if were merely a ...